£3800 for Mrs Johns after a fall on communal stairs

When renting a property, you expect to be safe. However, for Mrs Susan Johns this was not the case. On what started out as a normal day doing the morning school run, on arriving home things were to change.

On the 4th January 2018 Mrs Johns woke up, to her was just a normal day and took her son to school. On her return she entering the communal area and making her way up the stairs to her home, when she slipped on the wet steps causing her to fall onto her side. The outside guttering system was defective which led to the rain water leaking through onto the steps. In many tenancy agreements it is the requirement for the tenants to report any repairs that are needed in their properties which will include the external areas.

The leak had been present for the previous 6-7 months and despite the housing association being made aware of this issue AND having cleaners attend the property at least once a week, no safety measure had been put into place to prevent such accidents and keep tenants safe.

She reported her incident to the housing association and the following day the gutter was inspected and repaired. However, for Mrs Johns it wasn’t as simple as a quick fix for her to get over as she had been left with an exacerbation of pain to her previously injured shoulder and pain in her foot lasting for many months. She sought medical attention approximately a week later where she had to undergo an x-ray and an ultrasound and was diagnosed with soft tissue damage to her shoulder

Simple things were difficult for Mrs Johns to undertake such as housework, cooking, personal care including getting dressed and driving. All these things we take for granted but found she could no longer do and required care and assistance form family members. As a mother not being able to simply look after and take your child to school can be distressing in itself but she managed with the aid of taxis.

Mrs Johns had approached ourselves for advice. On successfully winning her case Express managed to secure her £3800 in compensation.